Catholic Laity in the Latin American Church

Before Vatican II, pastoral theology reflected a clear distinction between the ordained and non-ordained members of the Church, but a gradual nuancing of this issue was taking place in Latin America as early as the 1950s. In those areas, there had been rather intensive study of “modern” European theologians. Through their writings and pastoral visits to the region of America, these progressive European theologians began to strongly influence Latin American theology —especially in Chile and Brazil. This influence was shown through the beginnings of small Christian communities, and through an emphasis on doing “contextual” theology. This is a theology that emphasizes the experiential in the light of tradition, which eventually led to Latin American liberation theology. The Church of Latin America has long been a leader in innovations that incorporate the role of Scripture in everyday life: the preferential and evangelizing option for the poor, small Christian communities (also known as CEBs or BECs), lay apostolates and lay missionaries, and other endeavors to put the Church at service to the People of God. “Laying boots on the ground” has become truly essential to carrying out the Church’s mission in the world and pastoral ambience contributes strongly to this growing appreciation of the Catholic laity. Combined with the importance of theologically reflecting within the context of regional realities, this approach can provide hope for a challenged but youthful and vibrant Catholic Church of Latin America.

Roman Catholic Ecclesiology from the Council of Trent to Vatican II and Beyond

The Oxford Handbook of Ecclesiology ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199645831.013.14 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 262-292

Author(s):

Ormond Rush

Keyword(s):

Catholic Church ◽

Vatican Ii ◽

Roman Catholic ◽

Roman Catholic Church ◽

Second Vatican Council ◽

Council Of Trent ◽

People Of God ◽

The People ◽

Vatican Council ◽

For 400 years after the Council of Trent, a juridical model of the church dominated Roman Catholicism. Shifts towards a broader ecclesiology began to emerge in the nineteenth century. Despite the attempts to repress any deviations from the official theology after the crisis of Roman Catholic Modernism in the early twentieth century, various renewal movements, known as ressourcement, in the decades between the world wars brought forth a period of rich ecclesiological research, with emphasis given to notions such as the Mystical Body, the People of God, the church as mystery, as sacrament, and as communio. The Second Vatican Council incorporated many of these developments into its vision for renewal and reform of the Roman Catholic Church. Over half a century after Vatican II, a new phase in its reception is emerging with the pontificate of Pope Francis.

Prophetic Martyrdom in Modern Latin America

The Oxford Handbook of Latin American Christianity ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199860357.013.16 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 236-255

Author(s):

Edward T. Brett

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Latin American ◽

Catholic Church ◽

Vatican Ii ◽

Second Vatican Council ◽

Vatican Council ◽

Religious Sisters ◽

Church Workers ◽

Modern Latin America ◽

Following the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), over a thousand priests and religious sisters and brothers were exiled, imprisoned, tortured, or murdered in Latin America by authoritarian governments. A much larger number of lay Church workers were also incarcerated, brutalized, or killed. Most suffered or died because, following the ideals of Vatican II and the Second Latin American Bishops Conference at Medellín, Colombia (1968), they committed themselves to the amelioration of the marginalized in their countries, even though they were fully aware that to do so placed their lives in great peril. This chapter treats a select number—mostly priests and nuns—who were killed because of their prophetic devotion to the poor. It is limited to the nations of Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Central America. It also touches on the bitter divisions that resulted in the Church as a consequence of this new religious activism. Finally, it demonstrates why the deaths of so many religious-based social justice activists forced the institutional Catholic Church to reexamine its outdated criteria for martyrdom.

The Nature and Missionary Role of the Lay People in the Light of Vatican II; Convenience or Conviction?

E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences ◽

10.38159/ehass.2020054 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 28-36

Author(s):

Francis Appiah-Kubi ◽

Robert Bonsu

Keyword(s):

Catholic Church ◽

Vatican Ii ◽

Second Vatican Council ◽

People Of God ◽

Lay People ◽

The People ◽

Vatican Council ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

The nature and the missionary role of the laity in the church is one of the issues currently vital to the church and theologians. From the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) perspective, the word laity is technically understood to mean all the faithful except those in holy orders and those in the state of religious life specially approved by the Catholic Church (LG31). These faithful are by baptism made one with Christ and constitute the People of God; they are sharers in the priestly, prophetic and kingly functions of Christ; and they carry out for their own part the mission of the whole Christian people in the church and in the world. However, the distinction between the ordained and the lay is a real one. A great deal of attention has been paid to the ordained ministry of the Church, its nature, its authority and its functions. The laity tends, by way of contrast, to be taken very much for granted, as though in their case no special problems arise. This study discusses the nature, role, and participation of lay people in the mission of the Church as proposed by the Second Vatican Council. It treats succinctly the historical development of the Laity and the challenges and opportunities inherent in their mission.

Anselm Prior OFM and the shift to the Lumko Model for the Church after Vatican II

Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae ◽

10.25159/2412-4265/2708 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 44 (3) ◽

Author(s):

John Fuellenbach

Keyword(s):

Catholic Church ◽

Vatican Ii ◽

Skill Training ◽

Second Vatican Council ◽

Christian Communities ◽

The People ◽

Vatican Council ◽

Basic Ecclesial Communities ◽

Set Up ◽

In the creative turmoil after the Second Vatican Council, the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) set up a five-month renewal course at Nemi for their members. Noting that one key issue was the changing concept and practice of the Catholic Church from a universal, clerical pyramid to a communion of local communities, and that this conciliar theological vision demanded particular pastoral skills and training, the then director of the Nemi Renewal Course invited Anselm Prior to conduct a workshop presenting the Lumko training method of building Small Christian Communities. In this paper the author contrasts the Basic Ecclesial Communities that were birthed in Latin America over against the hierarchical church, with the Small Christian Communities that originated in Africa that were planned by the bishops themselves to bring the church closer to the people and their culture. This African model was promoted globally by the Lumko Pastoral Institute, and so became a vital part of the pastoral skill training conducted by Anselm Prior during some 15 annual courses at Nemi.

Cuba: Religion and Revolutionary Institutionalization

Journal of Latin American Studies ◽

10.1017/s0022216x00007914 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 319-340 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Margaret E. Crahan

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Latin American ◽

Catholic Church ◽

Vatican Ii ◽

Social Experience ◽

Cuban Revolution ◽

Large Measure ◽

Before And After ◽

The Church ◽

Both before and after the 1959 revolution, the Catholic Church in Cuba deviated from the norm in Latin America. This is in large measure due to the unique historical and social experience of Cuba, as well as to the fact that the church remained until the early 1960s largely a missionary outpost of Spain. When the revolution occurred, the Catholic Church was frozen in a pre-Vatican II mold which was reinforced by an exodus of clergy, religious and laity. The economic and diplomatic embargo of Cuba further isolated the church from progressive trends within the international church. Thus, the ferment unleashed by Vatican II (1962–5) and the Latin American Bishops Conference at Medellín, Colombia (1968) had less impact than changes resulting from the Cuban Revolution. As a consequence, the Catholic Church in Cuba entered the 1970s with limited theological and pastoral resources to meet the challenge of a consolidated Marxist/Leninist revolution. As an institution, the Catholic Church in Cuba is, as it was in 1959, the weakest in all of Latin America.

RELIGION AND POLITICS IN THE CONTEMPORARY TURKISH-SPEAKING WORLD - POLITICS AND RELIGION JOURNAL ◽

PRAISE OF THE CONVERT: BELIEVE AND BELONG FROM THE CATHOLICITY OF LATIN AMERICA

10.54561/prj1202327a ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 327-339

Author(s):

Felipe Gaytán Alcalá

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Public Space ◽

Latin American ◽

Catholic Church ◽

Political Life ◽

Religious Groups ◽

The Public ◽

The Social ◽

The World ◽

Latin America was considered for many years the main bastion of Catholicism in the world by the number of parishioners and the influence of the church in the social and political life of the región, but in recent times there has been a decrease in the catholicity index. This paper explores three variables that have modified the identity of Catholicism in Latin American countries. The first one refers to the conversion processes that have expanded the presence of Christian denominations, by analyzing the reasons that revolve around the sense of belonging that these communities offer and that prop up their expansion and growth. The second variable accounts for those Catholics who still belong to the Catholic Church but who in their practices and beliefs have incorporated other magical or esoteric scheme in the form of religious syncretisms, modifying their sense of being Catholics in the world. The third factor has a political reference and has to do with the concept of laicism, a concept that sets its objective, not only in the separation of the State from the Church, but for historical reasons in catholicity restraint in the public space which has led to the confinement of the Catholic to the private, leaving other religious groups to occupy that space.

The Limits of Ecclesial Metaphors in Systematic Ecclesiology

Horizons ◽

10.1017/s0360966900004965 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 35 (1) ◽

pp. 32-53

Author(s):

Brian P. Flanagan

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Catholic Church ◽

People Of God ◽

The People ◽

The Church ◽

ABSTRACTThis article looks at two major metaphors used in contemporary ecclesiology, the church as “the People of God” and as “the Bride of Christ,” which have functioned in some of the polarizing debates within the Catholic Church in North America. It then suggests some methodological reasons why reliance upon metaphors in ecclesiology, either through the balancing of different metaphors or the promotion of a dominant metaphor, is inadequate to the task of understanding the church systematically. It then suggests some avenues for future ecclesiological method that may help to understand the church better and so to respond better to contemporary ecclesiological debates.

The Catholic Church at Puebla

Worldview ◽

10.1017/s008425590005052x ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 22 (7-8) ◽

pp. 13-15

Author(s):

Renato Poblete

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Latin American ◽

Catholic Church ◽

Human Life ◽

General Assembly ◽

Profound Impact ◽

The Third ◽

The Church ◽

The Third General Assembly of the Latin American Episcopate took place last February in the Mexican city of Puebla. Without doubt it will make a profound impact upon the evangelizing action of the Church in Latin America. The documents produced at Puebla, like those produced in Medellin ten years earlier, will give rise to reflections that will find their way into the diverse pastoral plans of each nation.Neither Medellin nor Puebla can be considered isolated phenomenon. On the contrary, each should be seen as fruits of a maturing process in which Christian people, together with their pastors, express both the depths of their anguish and their high hopes and visions. That vision encompasses raising people from subhuman situations to a fuller experience of human life. Such experience should be expected to bring people together in brotherly love and lead naturally to a greater openness to God.

Dziekani w ustawodawstwie synodalnym diecezji włocławskiej

Prawo Kanoniczne ◽

10.21697/pk.2009.52.1-2.10 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 52 (1-2) ◽

pp. 255-319

Author(s):

Janusz Gręźlikowski

Keyword(s):

Vatican Ii ◽

Canon Law ◽

Joint Action ◽

Council Of Trent ◽

People Of God ◽

The People ◽

In The Beginning ◽

The introduce analysis the synodal resolution of the dioceses of Włocławek on space eight centuries on angle dean’s office, its authorization, duty and tasks in diocese, give conviction haw important is this office and necessary to realization religious mission of Church and his spiritual mission. From the beginning formation this office, through its evolution and actual obligatory norms of canon law, this office always write in mission of Church, joint action in realize and many methods activity community of the People of God. Moreover office of deans, definite authorizations and obligations always have on in view help of the diocesan bishop in performance pastoral service in particular Church. The deans as representative of presbytery the Włocławek Church, in light discussion rules of Włocławek synodal legislation, had belong and belong to nearest and most trustworthy collaborators of the diocesan bishop and have very important part in structure of this Church. The synodal legislation of Włocławek made and make with dean assistant of the diocesan bishop, mediator between the diocesan bishop and the diocesan curia, and priest and faithful deanery in specified matter. In the beginning dean introduced synodal legislation and orders of the diocesan bishop in life denary and individual parishes, was guardian of faith, customs and discipline. After the Council of Trent this office took bigger meaning and not limit to function control and inspect work priest in deanery, but also administrative in design assistance of the diocesan bishop in control of the diocese. After the Council of Vatican II to duty of the dean join pastoral duty in deanery. On the person dean and his service in big degree depend realization of mission of the Church. The synodal legislation of Włocławek made for detail designation function and assignment of deans servant designs inspection and administration-pastoral of the Włocławek Church. In they light office and service dean had and has take for this, that under leadership of the dean all priest in deanery commit in priesthood realize priest and pastoral vocation, realize duty result with leadership of parish, take cooperation, with fruit will be animation religious and pastoral life in the particular Church, and also will be realize – peaceably with rules of cannon law – service pastoral, sanctify and teaching of faithful.

Defending Human Rights Through Social Action: The Role of the Catholic Church in Latin America in the 1960s–1980s

Flux: International Relations Review ◽

10.26443/firr.v10i1.25 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

Author(s):

Madelyn Evans

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Latin America ◽

Latin American ◽

Social Action ◽

Catholic Church ◽

Roman Catholic Church ◽

Social Mission ◽

The 1960S ◽

The Church ◽

Since the earliest days of colonization, religion – in particular, the Roman Catholic Church – has been a driving force in the Latin American politics, economics, and society. As the region underwent frequent political instability and high levels of violence, the Church remained a steady, powerful force in society. This paper will explore the relationship between the Catholic Church and the struggle to defend human rights during the particularly oppressive era of bureaucratic-authoritarianism in Latin America throughout the 1960s–1980s. This paper seeks to demonstrate that the Church undertook the struggle to protect human rights because its modernized social mission sought to support the oppressed suffering from the political, economic, and social status quo. In challenging the legitimacy of the ruling national security ideology and illuminating the moral dimensions of violence, the Catholic Church became a crucial constructive agent in spurring social change, mitigating the effects of violence, and setting a democratic framework for the future.